#354 


Conf  Pam  12mo  #394 


SPEECH 


HON.  ALEX,  ft  STEPHENS, 


i>kijfki:kd  kkfork 


THE  GEORGIA  LEGISLATURE, 


On  Wednesday  Night,  March  16th,  1864. 


m&ftl'ED   FOK  THE  ATLANTA  INTKLU<IN<  VW 

BY   ^V.    E.    MARSHAL  . 


AMI  RKVKSHI)  BY   IUM>KI.K. 


ATLANTA,  GEORGIA: 

INTELLIGENCER    STEAM  POWER    PRKSSRS. 
1864. 


mm 


r  »  ri 


mu  /m 


17  MHM.I  /lauojla  IHT 


HI  4W  wttX  Urfhll  X>tt«tiy  aO 


S8R 


SPEECH 


OF 


HON.  ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS 


At  the  hour  of  71  o'clock,  1\  M.,  the  Hall  had  been  tilled  to 
its  utmost  capacity  by  members  of  the  Legislature  and  citizens 
generally,  and  as  the  vast  assemblage  within  saw  the  beloved 
form  of  "Georgia's  proud  and  noble  son,  every  eye  grew  bright 
with  joy,  and  a  hearty  and  unanimous  applause  bid  him  welcome. 

Mr.  Sto'hkn*  ascended  the  Speaker's  stand  and  .spoke  as  fal- 
lows : 

Gentlerncii  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 

In  compliance  with  your  request,  or  at  least  with  that  of  a 
large  portion  of  your  respective  bodies,  I  appear  before  you 
to-night  to  speak  of  the  state  of  public  affairs.  Never,  perhaps, 
before,  have  I  risen  to  address  a  public  audience  under  circum- 
stances of  so  much  responsibility,  and  never  did  I  feel  more 
deeply  impressed  with  the  weight  of  it.  Questions  of  the  most 
momentous  importance  are  pressing  upon  you  for  consideration 
and  action.  Upon  these  I  am  to  address  you.  Would  that  us- 
ability, physically,  and  in  all  other  respects,  were  commensurate 
with  the  magnitude  of  the  occasion.  We  are  in  the  midst  oi 
dangers  and  perils.  Dangers  without  and  dangers  within. 
Scylla  on  the  one  side  and  Charybdis  on  the  other.  War  i> 
being  waged  against  us  by  a  strong,  unscrupulous  and  vindic- 
tive foe;  a  war  for  our  subjugation,  degradation  and  extermi- 
nation. From  this  quarter  threaten  the  perils  without.  Those 
within  arise  from  questions  of  policy  as  to  the  best  means,  the 
wweafc  and  safest,  to  repel  the  enemy,  achieve  our  independence, 
to  maintain  and  keep  secure  our  rights  and  liberties.  Upon  the 
decision  of  these  questions,  looking  to  the  proper  development 
of  our  limited  resources,  wisely  and  patriotically,  so  that  their 
entire  efficiency  may  be  exerted  in  our  deliverance,  with  at  the 
same  time  a  watchful  vigilance  to  the  safety  of  the  citadel  itself, 
as  much  depends  as  upon  the  skill  of  our  commanders  and  the 
valor  of  our  citizen  soldiers  in  the  field.  Everything  dear  to  us 
as  freemen  is  at  stake.  An.  error  in  judgment,  though  springing 
from  the  most  patriotic  motives,  whether  in  councils  of  war  or 
•councils  of  state,  may  be  fatal.     He,  therefore,  who  rises  under 


such  circumstances  to  offer  words  of  advice,  not  only  assumes 
a  position  of  great  responsibility,  out  stands  on  dangerous 
ground.  Impressed  profoundly  with  such  feelings  and  convic- 
tions, I  should  shrink  from  the  undertaking  you  have  called 
me  to,  but  for  the  stron g  consciousness  that"where  duty  leads 
no  one  should  ever  fear  to  tread.  Great  as  are  the  dangers 
that  threaten  vis,  perilous  as  is  ouv  situation — and  I  do  not 
intend  to  overstate  or  understate,  neither  to  awaken  undue 
apprehension,  or  to  excite  hopes  and  expectations  never  to  be 
realized — perilous,  therefore,  as  4&r  situation  is,  it  is  far,  far 
from  being  desperate  or  hopeless,  and  I  feel  no  hesitation  in, 
eaying  to  you,  in  all  frankness  and  candor,  that  if  we  are  true 
to  ourselves,  and  true  to  our  cause,  all  will  yet  be  well. 

In  the  progress  of  the  war  thus  far,  it  is  true  there  is  much 
to  be  seen  of  suffering,  of  sacrifice  and  of  desolation ;  much  to 
sicken  the  heart  and  cause  a  blush  for  civilization  and  Christian- 
ity. Cities  have  been  taken,  towns  have  been  sacked,  vast 
amounts  of  property  have  been  burned,  fields  have  been  laid 
waste,  records  have  been  destroyed,  churches  kave  been  dese- 
crated, women  and  children  have  been  driven  from  their  homes, 
unarmed  men  have  been  put  to  death,  {States  havo  btnn  overrun 
and  whole  populations  made  to  groan  under  the  atcl  oi  despot- 
ism;  all  these  things  are  seen  and  felt,  but  in  them  nothing  is 
to  be  seen  to  cause  dismay,  much  less  despair;  these  deeds  cl 
ruin  and  savage  barbarity  have  been  perpetrated  only  on  the 
outer  borders,  on  the  coast,  and  on  the  line  of  the  rivers,  where 
by  the  aid  of  their  ships  of  war  and  gunboats  the  enemy  has 
had  the  advantage  ;  the  great  breadth  of  the  interior — the  heart 
of  our  country — has  never  yet  been  reached  by  them ;  they 
have  as. yet,  alter  a  struggle  of  near  three  years,  with  unlimited 
means,  at  a  cost -of  not  less  than  four  thousand  millions  of  dol- 
lars (how  much  more  is  unknown)  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  lives,  been  able  only  to  break  the  outer  shell  of  the  Confede- 
racy. The  only  signal  advantages  they  have  as  yet  gained  have 
been  on  the  water,  or  where  their  land  and  naval  forces  were 
combined.  That  they  should  have  gained  advantages  under 
such  circumstances,  is  not  a  matter  of  much  surprise.  Nations 
in  war,  like  individual  men  or  animals,  show  their  real  power  in 
combat  when  they  stand  upon  the  advantages  that  nature  has 
given  them,  and  light  on  their  own  ground  and  in  their  own 
clement.  The  lion,  though  king  of  the  forest,  cannot  contend 
successfully  with  the  shark  in  the  water.  In  no  conflict  of  arms 
away  from  gunboats,  during  the  whole  war,  since  the  first  bat- 
tle of  Manassas  to  that  of  Ocean  Pond,  have  our  gallant  soldiers 
failed  of  victory  when  the  numbers  on  each  side  were  at  all 
equal.  The  farthest  advance  into  the  interior  from  the  base  and 
protection  of  their  gunboats,  either  on  the  coast  or  the  rivers, 
that  the  enemy  lias  been  able  to  make  for  three  years  was  the 
late  movement  from  Vicksburg  to  Meridian,  and  the  speedy 


turn  of  that  movement  S^ows  nothing  more,  clearly  than  the 
difficulties  and  disadvantages  attending  all  such;  these  things 
should  be  noted  and  marked  in  considering  our  present  situation 
t  and  the  prospects  of  the  future.  In  ail  our  losses  up  to  this 
time,  no  vital  blow  has  ever  been  given  either  to  our  cause  or 
our  energies.  We  still  hold  Richmond,  after  repeated  efforts 
io  take  it,  both  by  force  and  strategy.  We  still  hold  on  the 
Cxuif,  Mobile,  and  on  the  Ocean  front,  Wilmington,  Savannah 
and  Charleston.  These  places  have  been,  and  are  still  held 
against  the  most  formidable  naval  armament  ever  put  afloat. 

At  Charleston  the  enemy  seem  to  direct  all  their  power,  land 
and  naval,  that  can  be  brought  to  bear  in  combination — all  their 
energy,  rancour  and  vengeance.  u  Carthago  deknda  est"  is 
their  vow  as  to  this  ti  jted  city.  Every  means  that  money 
ran  command  and  ingenuity  suggest,  froi.  ,.e  hugest  engines 
of  war  never  before  known  to  the  fiendish  resort  of  Give  if  tire, 
I'een  and  are  being  applied  for  its  destruction.  For  nearly 
nine  months  the  city,  under  the  skill  of  our  consummate  com- 
mander, his  subordinates,  and  the  heroic  virtues  of  our  matchless 
braves  in  the  ranks,  still  holds  out  against  all  the  disadvantages 
of  a  defence  without  Sw.  able  naval  aid.  That  she  may  continue 
to  hold  out,  and  her  soil  never  be  polluted  by  the  unhallowed 
foot  prints  of  her  vandal  besiegers,  is,  ot  course,  the  earnest 
wish  of  all.  But  even  if  so  great  a  disaster  should  happen  to 
us  as  the  loss  of  Charleston,  be  not  dismayed,  indulge  no  senti- 
ment akin  to  that  of  despair— Charleston  is  not  a  vital  part. 
We  may  lose  that  place,  Savannah,  Mobile,  Wilmington,  and 
Richmond,  the  scat  of  government,  and  still  survive.  We 
may  lose  all  our  strong  places— the  enemv  mav  traverse  our 
great  interior  as  they  have  lately  done  in  Mississippi,  aud  W€ 
may  still  survive.  We  should,  <  ven  under  such  calamity 
no  w*  r>e  off  than  our  ancestors  were  in  their  stn, 
peadence,  During  the  time  thai  "tried  men's"  souls*' 
them,  every  city  on  the  coast,  from  Boston  to  >v  .   was 

taken  by  the  enemy.  Philadelphia  was  taken,  and  Congress 
driven  away.  .South  Carolina,  Xorth  Carolina,  portions  of 
Georgia,  \  irginia,  and  other  States,  were  overrun  and  occupied 
by  the  enemy  as  completely  as  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Louisiana 
and  Tennessee  are  now.  Take  courage  from  the  example  of 
your  ancestors— disasters  caused  with  them  nothing  like  dismay 
or  despair— they  only  aroused  a  spirit  of  renewed  energy  and 
fortitude.     The  principles  they  fought  for,  suffered  and  endured . 

so  much  for,  are   the  same  for  which  we  are  now  struggling 

State  Eights,  State  Sovereignty,  the  great  principle  set  forth  in 
the  declaration  of  independence— the  right  of  every  State  to  gov- 
ern itself  as  it  pleases.  With  the  same  wisdom,  prudence,  fore- 
caste  and  patriotism;  the  same  or  equal  statesmanship  on  the  part 
of  our  rulers  in  directing  and  wielding  our  resources,  our  material 
of  war,  that  controlled  public  affairs  at  that  time,  in  the  camp  and 


6* 

in  the  cabinet,  and  with  the  same  spirit  animating  the  breast  of  the 
p  eople,  devotion  lo  liberty  and  right,  hatred  of  tyranny  and  op- 
pression, affection  for  the  cause  for  the  cause's  sake;  with  the 
same  sentiments  and  feelings  on  the  part  of  rulers  and  people 
in  these  days  as  were  in  those,  we  might  and  may  be  overrun 
as  they  were ;  our  interior  may  Ik  penetrated  by  superior  hos- 
tile armies,  and  our  country  laid  waste  as  theirs  was,  but  we 
can  never  be  conquered,  as  they  never  could  be.  The  issues  of 
war  depend  quite  as  much  upon  Statesmanship  as  Generalship  , 
quite  as  much  upon  what  is  done  at  the  council  board ,  as  upon 
what  is  done  in  the  field.  Much  the  greater  part  of  all  wars, 
is  business— plain  practical  every  day  life  business  ;  there  is  in 
it  no  art  or  mystery  or  speoial  knowledge,  except  good,  strong, 
common  sense — this  relates  to  the  finances,  the  quartermaster's 
and  commissary's  departments,  the  ways  and  means  proper — in 
a  word  to  the  resources  of  a  country  and  its  capacities  for  war. 
The  number  of  men  that  can  be  spared  from  production,  with- 
out weakening  the  aggregate  strength — the  prospect  of  sup- 
plies, subsistence,  arms  and  munitions  of  all  kinds-  It  is  as  ne- 
cessary that  men  called  out  should  b'e  armed,  clothed,  shod  and 
fed,  as  th^t  they  should  be  put  in  the  field — subsistence  is  as 
essential  as  men.  At  present  we  have  subsistence  sufficient  for 
the  year,  if  it  is  taken  care  of  and  managed,  with  economy. — 
Upon  a  moderate  estimate,  one  within  reasonable  bounds,  the 
tythes  of  wheat  and  corn  for  last  year  were  not  less,  in  the 
States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  (to  say  nothing  of  the  other  side,) 
than  eighteen  million  basbels.  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  are 
not  included  in  tins  estimate.  This  would  bread  au  army  of 
five  hundred  thousand  men  and  one  hundred  thousand  horses 
for  twelve  mouths,  and  leave  a  considerable  margin  for  waste  or 
loss.  This  we  have  without  buying  or  impressing  a  bushel  or 
pound.  Nor  need  a  bushel  of  it  be  lost  on  account  of  the  want 
of  transportation  from  points  at  a  distance  from  railroads.  At 
such  places  it  could  be  fed  to  animals,  put  into  beef  and  pork, 
and  thus  lessen  the  amount  of  these  articles  of  food  to  be 
bought.  Upon  a  like  estimate  the  tythe  of  meat  for  the  last 
year,  will  supply  the  army  for  at  least  six  months — rendering 
the  purchase  of  supplies  of  this  article  necessary  for  only  half 
the  year — the  surplus  in  the  country,  over  and  above  the  tythes, 
is  ample  to  meet  the  deficiency.  All  that  is  wanting  is  men  of 
business  capacity,  honesty,  integrity,  economy  and  industry  in 
the  management  and  control  of  that  department.  There  need 
be  no  fear  of  the  want  of  subsistence  this  year,  if  our  '-"Vials 
do  their  duty.  But  how  it  will  be  next  year,  if  the  policy 
adoiri^l  by  Congress,  at  its  late  session,  is  carried  out,  no 
one^Sa  safely  venture  to  say. 

This  brings  me  to  the  main  objects  of  this  address,  a  review 
of  those  Acts  of  Congress  to  which  your  attention  has  been 
specially  called  by  the  Governor,  and  on  which  your  action  is 


invoked — these  are,  the  Currency,  the  Military,  and  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Suspension  Acts.  It  is  the  beauty  of  our  system  of 
government,  that  all  in  authority  are  responsible  to  the  people. 
It  is,  too,  always  more  agreeable  to  approve  than  to  disapprove 
what  our  agents  have  done.  But  in  grave  and  important  mat- 
ters, however  disagreeable  or  even  painful  it  may  be  to  express 
disapproval,  yet  sometimes  the  highest  duty  requires  it.  No 
exceptions  should  be  taken  to  this  when  it  is  done  in  a  proper 
spirit,  and  with  a  view  solely  for  the  public  welfare.  In  free 
governments  men  will  differ  as  to  the  best  means  of  promoting 
the  public  good.  Honest  differences  of  opinion  should  never 
beget  ill  feelings,  or  personal  alienations.  The  expressions  of 
differences  of  opinion  do  no  harm  when  truth  alone  is  th£  object 
on  both  sides.  Our  opinions  in  all  such  discussions  of  public 
affairs,  should  be  given  as  from  friends  to  friends,  as  from  bro- 
thers to  brothers,  in  a  common  cause.  We  aro  all  launched 
upon  the  same  boat,  and  must  ride  the  storm  or  go  down  to- 
gether. Disagreements  should  never  arise,  except  from  one 
cause — a  difference  in  judgment,  as  to  the  best  means  to  be 
adopted,  or  eourse.to  be  pursued,  for  the  common  safety.  This 
is  the  spirit  by  which  I  am  actuated  in  the  comments  I  shall 
make  upon  these  Acts  of  Congress. 

As  to  the  lirst  two  of  these  measures,  the  Tax  Act  and  Fund- 
ing Act,  know:,  together  as  the  financial  and  currency  measures, 
1  simply  say,  in  my  judgment,  they  are  neither  proper,  wise  or 
just.  Whether  in  the  midst  of  conflicting  views,  in  such  diver- 
sity of  opinion  and  interests,  anything  better  could  not  be  ob- 
tained, 1  know  not — perhaps  not.  With  th;;t  view  we  may  be 
reconciled  to  what  we  do  not  approve.  It  is  useless  now  to  go 
into  discussions  of  how  tetter  measures  might  have  been  ob- 
tained, or  how  bad  ones  might  have  been  avoided — the  whole 
is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  evils  attending  first  departures 
from  principle — the  "faailh  descensus  Auer/w."  Error  is  ever 
the  proline  source  of  error.  Our  present  financial  embarrass- 
ments had  their  origin  in  a  blunder  at  the  beginniug,  but  we 
must  deal  with  the  present,  not  the  past.  These  two  Acts  make 
it  necessary  for  you  to  change  your  legislation  to  save  the  State 
from  loss.  As  to  the  course  you  should  adopt  to  do  thi*,  I 
know  of  none  better  than  thai  recommended  by  the  Governor. 
J  lis  views  and  suggestions  on  this  point  seem  to  be  proper  and 
judicious. 

The  military  act  by  which  conscription  is  extended  so  as  to 
embrace  all  between  the  ages  oi  seventeen  and  fifty,  and  by 
which  the  State  is  to  be  deprived  of  so  much  of  its  labor  and 
stripped  of  the  most  efficient  portion  of  her  enrolled  militia,  pre- 
sents a  much  graver  question.  This  whole  system  of  conscrip- 
tion I  have  looked  upon  from  the  beginning  us  wrong,  radically 
wrong  in  principle  and  in  policy.  Contrary  opinions,  however, 
prevailed.     But  whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  have  been 


8 

entertained  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  previous  Conscript 
Acts,  it  seenis  clear  to  my  mind  that  bat  little  difference  can 
exist  as  to  the  unconstitutionality  of.  this  late  act.  The  act 
provides  for  the  organizing  of  troops  of  an  anomalous  character 
— partly  as  militia  and  partly  as  a  portion  of  the  regular  armies. 
But  in  fact,  they  are  to  he  organized  neither  as  militia  or  part 
of  the  regular  army.  We  Have  but  two  kinds  of  forces,  the 
regular  army  and  the  militia — this  is  neither.  The  men  are  t<> 
be  raised  as  conscripts  for-the  regular  forces,  while  their  officers 
are  to  be  appointed  as  if  they  were  militia.  If  they  were  in- 
tended as  militia,  they  should  have  been  called  out,  through  the 
Governor,  in  their  present  organizations — if  as  regular  forces 
they  caiinot  be  officered  as  the  act  provides.  It  is  most  clearly 
unconstitutional.  Who  is  to  commission  these  officers  ?  The 
Governor  cannot,  for  they  are  taken  from  under  his  control ; 
the  President  cannot  constitutionally  do  it,  for  he  can  coin  mis- 
sion none  except  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate.  It  is  for  you  to  say  whether  you  will  turn  over  tKese 
forces,  and  allow  them  to  be  conscripted,  as  is  provided, 
leaving  the  question  of  constitutionality  for  the  courts,  or 
whether  you  will  hold  them  ill  view  of  agricultural  and  other 
interest,  or  for  the  execution  of  your  laws,  and  to  be  caued 
out  for  the  public  defense  in  case  of  emergency  by  the  GTqv- 
ernor  when  he  sees  the  necessity,  or  whgn  they  are  called 
for  as  militia  by  the  President.  The  Act  upon  its  face,  in  its 
provisions  for  details,  seems  to  indicate  that  its  object  is  not  to 
put  the  whole  of  them  in  the  field.  Nothing  could  be  more 
ruinous  to  our  cause  if  such  were  the  object  and  intention  and 
should  it  ever  be  carried  into  effect.  For  if  all  the  white  labor 
of  the  country,  from  seventeen  to  fifty — except  the  few  exemp- 
tions stated — be  called  out  and  kept  constantly  in  the  held,  we 
must  fail,  sooner  or  later,  for  want  of  subsistence  and  other  es- 
sential supplies.  To  wage  war  successfully,  men  at  home  areas 
necessary  as  men  in  the  field.  Those  in  the  held  must  be  pro- 
vided for,  and  their  families  at  home  must  be  provided  for.  In 
my  judgment,  no  people  can  successfully  carry  on  a  long  war, 
with  more  than  a  third  of  its  arms-bearing  population  kept  con- 
stantly in  the  field,  especially  if  cut  off  by  blockade,  they  are 
thrown  upon  their  own  internal  resources  for  all  ft'ecessarv  »np 
plies,  subsistence  and  munitions  of  war.  This  is  dL^ftestioh  of 
Arithmetic  on  well  settled  problems  of  political  economy.  l»ut 
can  we  succeed  against  the  hosts  of  the  enemy  unless  all  able  to 
bear  arms  up  to  fifty  years  of  age  are  called  to  and  kept  in  the 
field  ?  Yes,  a  thousand  times  yes,  I  answer,  with  proper  and  skill- 
ful management.  If  we  cannot  without  such  a  call,  we  cannot  will 
it,  if  the  war  last  long.  The  success  of  Greece  against  the  invasion 
by  Persia — the  success  of  t lie  Netherlands  against  Philip — the 
success  of  Frederic  against  the  allied  powers  of  Europe — the 
success  of  the  Colonies  against  Great   I>ritain,  all  show  that  it 


3 

<5aa  be  done.  I{  our  only  hop:  wa£  in  matching  the  enemy 
witb  equal  number*,  then  our  cause  would  be  desperate  indeed. 
Superior  numbers  is  one  of  the  chief  advantages  of  the  enemy. 
We  must  avail  ourselves  of  our  advantage-.  We  should  not 
rely  for  success  by  playing  into  lus  I  eople 

have  many  advantages  that  may  be  resorted  to,  to  counterbal- 
ance superiority  of  numbers.     These  shofM  be  studied,  sq 
and  brought  into  active  co-operation.     T.c*  secure  success,  brains 
must  do  something  as  well  as  muskets.. 

Of  all  the  dangers  that  threat*  .  I  consid- 

er none  more  imminent  than  the  policy  embodied  in  this  Act,  if  the 
object  really  be,  as  its  brond  terms  declare,  tp  put  and  keep  in 
active  service  ari  between  the  ag  -  »n  and  fifty,  except 

empts  name  d.     On  that  lino  we  will  mo-  diy,  soon- 

er or  latter,  do    what  the  enemy  n,eyei;  could  do,  conquer  oui  - 
.     And  if  such  be  not  the  objej  Act — if  it  is  ouly 

intended  to  conscript  men  not  ii  service,  not  with  a 

view  to  rill  the  army,  but  for  the  officials,  to  take  charge  of  the 
ral  labor  of  the  country  and  ihc  various  necessary  avoca- 
tions   and  pursuits  of  life,  then  the  A  )\   Ls  not  only 
principle  but  exceedingly  dangerous  in  its  tendency. 

I  come,  now,  to  the  last  of  these  Acta  of  Congress.  The 
suspension  of  the  writ  of'JBfabeas  Corjyas  in  certain  cases.  This 
is  the  most  exciting,  as  ii  is  by  far  the  must  important  question 
before  you.  Ujxm  this  depends  the  question,  whether  the 
courts  shall  be  permitted  to  decide  upon  the  constitutionality 
of  the  late  Conscript  Act,  should  you  submit  that  question  to 
their   decision,  and  upon  it  ai  \\iqv  great  essential 

rights  enjoyed  by  us  as  freemen.  This  Act,  upon  its  face,  con- 
fers upon  the  President,  tlv  try  of  War,  and  the  General 
commanding  in  the  trans-Mississippi  Department,  (the  two  latter 
acting  under  the  control  and  authority  of  the  Presideut)  tlu 
power  to  arrest  and  imprison  any  person  who  may  be  simply 
charged  with  certain  acts,  not  all  of  them  even  crimes  under 
any  law ;  and  this  is  to  be  done  without  ;iny  oath  or  affirma- 
tion alledging  probable  cause  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  party.  Tbi* 
in  attempted  to  be  don  ;-.  of  the  Constitution, 
which  authorizes  Congress  I  writ- 
of  Habeas  Corpus,  in  certain  eases. 

In  my  judgment  this  act   is   i 
unconstitutional,  but  exceeding]  public  U 

Its  unconstitutionality  does  net  rest  upon  the  idea  that  Congress 
has  not  got  the  power  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  this  writ, 
nor  upon  the  idea  that  the  power  to  suspend  in  implied 

one,  or  that  clearly  implied  powers  are  weaker  as  a  class  and 
subordinate  to  others,  positively  and  directly  delegated. 

I  do  not"  understand  the  Executive  of  this  State  to  put  his 
argnmeut  against  this  Act  upon  any  such  grounds.  He  simply 
states  a  fact,  as  it  most  clearly  is,  th  vrer  \     iJtwpeha  at 


10 

all  is  an  implied  power.  There  is  no  positive,  direct  power  dele- 
gated to  do  it.  The  power,  however,  is  clear,  and  clear  only 
by  implication.  The  language  of  the  Constitution, -tluu '•  .1 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended 
unless,  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety 
may  require  it,"  clearly  expresses  the  intention  that  the  power 
may  be  exercised  in  the  cases  stated ;  but  it  does  so  by  implica- 
tion only,  just  as  if  a  mother  should  sa;,  to  her  daughter,  you 
shall  not  go  unless  you  ride.  Here  the  j  mission  and  authority 
to  go  is  clearly  given,  though  by  inference  and  implication  only. 
It  is  not  positively  and  directly  given.  This,  and  this  onlv  T 
understand  the  Governor  to  mean  w'hen  he  speaks  of  the  pc  jr 
being  an  implied  one.  He  raises  no  question  as  to  the  existence 
of  the  power,  or  its  validity  when  rightfully  exercised,  but  jpe 
maintains,  as  I  do,  that  its  exercise  must  be  controlled  by  all 
other  restrictions  in  the  Constitution  bearing  upon  its  exercise. 
Two  of  these  are  to  be  found  in  the  words  accompanying  the  del- 
egation. It  can  never  be  exercised  except  in  rebellion  or  invasion. 
Other  restrictions  are  to  be  found  in  other  parts  of  the  Consti- 
tution. In  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  adopted  after 
the  ratification  of  the  words  as  above  quoted,  these  amendments 
were  made,  as  is  expressly  declared  in  the  preamble  to  them,  to 
add  "further  declaratory  and  restrictive  clauses,"  to  prevent 
misconstruction  or  abuse  of  the  powers"  previously  delegated. 
To  understand,  all  the  restrictions,  therefore,  thrown  around 
the  exercise  of  this  power  in  the  Constitution,  these  additional 
"  restrictive  clauses"  must  be  read  in  conjunction  with  the  orig^ 
inal  grant  whether  that  was  made  positively  and  directly,  or  by 
implication  only.  These  restrictions,  among  other  things  de- 
dare,  that  "no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  pro- 
perty without  due  process  of  law,"  and  that  the  right  of  the 
people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers  and  effects, 
against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures  shall  not  be  violated, 
and  no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported 
by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  place  to 
be  searched,  and  the  person  or  thing  to  be  seized." 

All  admit  that  under  the  clause  as  it  stands  in  the  original 
grant,  with  the  restrictions  there  set  forth,  the  power  can  be 
rightfully  exercised  only  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion.  With 
these  additional  clauses,  put  in  as  further  restrictions  to  prevent 
the  abuse  of  powers  previously  delegated,  how  is  this  clause, 
conferring  the  power  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  now  to  be  read  ?  In  this  way,  and  in  this  way 
only :  "  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  susp ended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the 
public  safety  may  require  it."  And  no  person  "  shall  be  de- 
prived of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law." 
And  iurther,  "  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their 
persons,  house*.,  papers  and  effects  against  unreasonable  search- 


11 

is  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  is- 
sue but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation, 
and  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the 
persons  or  tilings  to  be  B«i; 

The  attempted  exercise  of  the  power  to  suspend  the  privi- 
lege of  the  writ  of  habeas  >josj>>id  in  this  Act,  is  in  utter  disre- 
gard m  the  very  free  and  teeth  of  these  restrictions,  as  much 
so  as  a  like  attempt  in  time  of  profound  peace  would  be  in  dis- 
regard of  the  restrictions  to  cases  of  rebellion  and  invasion,  as 
the  Constitution  was  originally  adopted.  It  attempts  to  pro- 
vide for  depriving  persons  i%  of  liberty,  without  due  process 
of  law/'  It  at  temps  to  annul  and  set  at  naught  the  great  con- 
stitutional *  right"  of  the  people,  to  be  secure  in  their  persons 
against  "unreasonable  seizures/'  It  attempts  to  destroy  and 
annihilate  the  bulwark  of  personal  liberty,  secured  in  our  great 
chart  to  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest,  that  4t  no  warrants 
shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affir- 
mation,"' and  "  particularly  describing  the  person  to  be  seized.'' 
Nay  more,  it  attempts  to  change  and  transform  the  distribution 
of  powers  in  our  system  of  goveroment.  It  attempts  to  de- 
prive the  Judiciary  Department  of  its  appropriate  and  legiti- 
mate function*,  and  to  confer  them  upon  the  President,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  the  General  officer  commanding  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Department,  or  rather  to  confer  them  entirely 
upon  the  President,  for  those  subordinates  named  in  the  Act 
hold  their  places  at  his  \vtll,  and  in  arrests  under  tins  Act  are 
to  be  governed  by  nis  orders.  This,  by  the  Constitution,  never 
ean  be  done.  Ours  its  not  only  a  government  of  limited  powers, 
but  each  department,  the  legislative,  executive  and  judicial,  are 
separate  and  distinct.  The  issuing  of  warrants,  which  are  no- 
thing but  orders  for  arrests  against  civilians  or  persons  in  civil 
^ife,  is  a  judicial  function.  The  President,  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, has  no  power  to  issue  any  such.  As  commander-in-chiet 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces,  and  the  militia  when  in  actual  ser- 
vice, he  may  order  arrests  ior  trials  before  Courts  Martial,  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  and  articles  of  war.  But  he  is  clothed 
with  no  such  power  over  those  not  in  the  military  service,  and 
not  subject  to  the  rules  and  articles  of  war.  This  Act  attempts 
to  ciothe  him  with  judicial  functions,  and  in  a  judicial  character 
to  do  what  no  Judge,  under  the  Constitution,  can  do :  issue 
orders  or  warrants  for  arrest,  by  which  persons  are  to  be  de- 
prived of  their  liberty,  imprisoned,  immured  in  dungeons,  it 
may  be  without  any  oath  or  affirmation,  even  as  to  the  proba- 
ble guilt  of  the  party  accused  or  charged  with  any  of  the  of- 
fences or  acts  stated.  This,  under  the  Constitution,  in  my 
judgment,  cannot  be  done.  Congress  can  confer  no  such  power 
upon  our  Chief  Magistrate.  There  is  no  such  thing  known  in 
this  country  as  political  warrants,  or  "lett  achet"      This 


12 

Act  attempts  to  institute  this  new  order  of  things  so  odious  to 
our  ancestors,  and  so  inconsistent  with  constitutional  liberty. 

This  Act,  therefore,  is  unconstitutional,  not  because  Congres- 
has  not  power  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  but  because  they  have  no  power  to  do  the  thing  aimed 
at  in  this  attempted  exercise  of  it.  Congress  can  suspend  the 
privilege  of  the  writ — the  power  is  clear  and  unquestioned — 
neither  is  the  power,  as  it  stands,  objectionable.  Georgia,  in 
the  Convention,  voted  against  the  clause  conferring  it  in  the 
Constitution  as  originally  adopted — that,  perhaps,  was  a  wise 
and  prudent  vote.  But,  with  the  restrictions  subsequently 
adopted,  there  can  be  no  well  grounded  objection  to  it.  It  is, 
under  existing  restrictions,  a  wise  power.  In  time  of  war,  in 
cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  it  may  often  be  necessary  to  ex- 
ercise it — the  public  safety  may  require  it.  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say  that  the  public  safety  may  not  require  it  now.  I  am  not 
informed  of  the  reasons  which  induced  the  President  to  ask  the 
suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  at  this  time,  or  Congress 
to  undertake  its  suspension  as  provided  in  this  Act.  I,  however, 
know  of  no  reasons  that  require  it,  and  have  heard  of  none. — 
But  in  the  exercise  of  an  undisputed  power,  they  have  at- 
tempted to  do  just  what  cannot  1)8  done — to  authorize  illegal 
and  unconstitutional  arrests — there  can  be  no  suspension  of  the 
writ,  under  our  system  of  government,  against  unconstitutional 
arrests — there  can  be  no  suspension  allowing,  or  with  a  view  to 
permit  and  authorize,  the  seizure  of  peffsons  without  warrant 
issued  by  a  judicial  officer  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by 
oath  or  affirmation — the  whole  Constitution  must  be  read  to- 
gether, and  so  read  and  construed  as  that  every  part  and  clause 
shall  stand  and  have  its  proper  effect  under  the  restrictions  of 
other  clauses. 

If  any  conflict  arises  between  clauses  in  the  original  and  the 
amendments  subseqnently  made,  the  original  must  yield  to  the 
amendments.  As  a  will  previously  made  always  yields  to  the 
modifications  of  a  codicil.  Such,  of  course,  was  the  condition 
of  the  old  Constitution  with  its  amendments,  when  the  States 
of  this  Confederacy  adopted  it — and  it  was  adopted  by  these 
States  with  the  meaning,  force  and  effect  it  then  had.  In  con- 
struing, therefore,  those  parts  of  the  old  Constitution  which  we 
adopted,  we  stand  just  where  we  should  have  stood  under  like 
circumstances,  under  it.  With  these  views  it  will  clearly  ap- 
pear that  under  our  Constitution,  Courts  cannot  be  deprived 
of  their  right  or  be  relieved  of  their  duty  to  enquire  into  the  le- 
gality of  all  arrests  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  and  naval 
forces  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service— for  the  govern- 
ment of  which  a  different  provision  is  made  in  the  Constitution. 
Under  a  Constitutional  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ 
all  the  Courts  could  do,  would  be  to  sec  that  the  party  was  le- 
gally arrested  and  held — upon  proper   warrant — upon  probable 


13 

cause,  supported  b .  r  affirmation  setting  form  a  crime  of 

jotni  violation  of  law.     Literally  and  truly  then  the  only  effect 
of  a  Constitutional  exercise  of  this  power  over  the  writ  oi  fiabc- 
.  is  to  deprive  a  person,  after  being  legal- 
ly confined,  of  the  privilege  oi  a  discharge  before  trial,  bj 
ing  bah,  '  mntof  insufficiency  &j  •  probable 

cause 

v.d  not  the  writ  itself.     The  word*  of  tb 
ar  •  aj  en  to  e'Xj      -  and  extent  to  wl 

suspension  can  go  in  t.'  try.     With   this  view  the  power 

>ne.     It  can  wqrk  no  duryto  the  citizen  and 

.ns;  whom 
,  by  oath  or 'affirm  a 
tae,  must'l  lit  found 

fence.  3  other  view  ol 

maj  as  in  tb 

weak- 
er would  irouger 

>ut  remedy  or  redress.     Any  one  m  the  community  i 

..ay  motive  pr  for  any  purpose,  any  other,  and  confine 

him  most  wrongfully  an  vera' 

i$t  a  few  might  he  fanned  for  a  like-  purpose,  and  there 

Would  be 

securi- 
ty and  persona!  safety  \rouId  bo  swu,  Iustead  of  a  laud 
of  latr&  the  whole  country  would  be  n  than  a  Wbtie- 
domain — a  perfect  Aisatia.     V                1  bo  the  inevitable 
effect  of  the  exercise  of  the  potoc 

:w  of  the  ^abject,  than  t:  The 

same  effects  as  to  outrage  upon  pen 
under  a  limited  suspension  confined  to  any  specified 
der   ecdy  other  view.     No   .such   hu 

can  ever  spring  from  our  Constitution  if  it  be  rightly  admiuis- 

atter  is  we'd  stated 
by  the  the 

.act  terra 
of  tiie  writ  oi'    ha*  ,u  and 

compatible  with  the  pi  te.  sim- 

ple extent  of  prevent;:, 
i.      -is  have  been  ordered,  under  (. 
Judicial  Authority." 

On  this  subject  much  to  be  derived  from  English  His- 

tory.    Our  whole  system  oi  Constitutional  liberty  . 
principles  established  by  o  . -Saxon  ancestors.     But  be- 

tween their  system  and  ours,  there  are  several   differences  thai 
should  be  noted  and  marked — and    oonc  more  striking  and  fun- 


14 

damental  than  the' difference  between  the  two  upon  this  sub- 
ject. With  them  the  right  of  personal  security  against  illegal 
arrests,  was  wrested  from  the  Crown  by  the  Parliament,  and  es- 
tablished by  Magna  Charta,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  abolition  of 
Star  Chamber,  and  the  grant  of  the  Great  Right  of  the  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus,  which  is  the  means  of  redress  against  viola- 
tions of  law,  and  other  wrongs  a'  u  rights  secured  and  ac- 
knowledged. In  the  abolition  of  v.  , art  of  Star  Chamber 
the  power  was  taken  from  the  King,  his  heirs  and  succ:  .  ->r.s 
forever,  and  every  member  of  his  Privy  Council,  to  n^T  i  any 
arrest  of  any  person  for  any  offence  or  alleged  crime,  eyfcept  hy 
due  process  of  law.  By  this  Act,  the  power  of  the  King  to  is- 
sue warrants  or  orders  of  arrest,  unsupported  by  oath  or  affir- 
mation, setting  forth  probable  cause,  which  before,  had  been 
claimed  as  a  royal  prerogative,  was  taken  away  from  him  and  his 
successors  forever.  The  ruling  Monarch,  Charles  I,  gave  his 
consent  to  the  Act  and  yielded  the  power.  He  afterwards  broke 
his  pledge.  Civil  commotions  ensued  from  this  and  other  causes. 
He  lost  his  head  upon  the  block.  The  subsequent  history  of 
that  strife  between  the  people  and  the  Crown  of  England,  on 
this  and  other  matters  is  not  now  pertinent  to  the  object  before 
ns.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  ended  in  the  settlement  as  it  is  term- 
fed  between  the  Parliament  and  their  New  Sovereigns,  William 
and  Mary — in  1688,  '89.  In  this  settlement,  all  the  ancient 
right^and  liberties  of  the  English  people,  including  the  right  of 
the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  were  reaffirmed  and  secured.  Such 
were  the  liberties,  inherited  as  a  birth  right,  that  our  British  an- 
cestors brought  with  them  to  this  Continent.  The  principles 
established  in  England,  after  centuries  of  struggle  and  blood, 
formed  the  basis  upon  which  the  great  structure  of  American 
Constitutional  liberty  was  erected.  But  the  striking  difference 
between  their  system  and  ours  to  which  I  have  alluded  and 
which  should  never  be  lost  sight  of,  is  that  with  them,  all  power 
originally  belonged  to  the  Crown.  All  rights  and  liberties  were 
grants  from  the  Crown  to  the  Parliament,  and  through  them  to 
the  people,  while  with  us  all  power  originally  belonged  to  the 
people — and  essentially,  still  resides  with  them.  They  have  ap- 
pointed agents  to  perform  the  functions  of  Government  in  the 
different  Departments,  Executive,  Judicial  and  Legislative,  un- 
der the  form  of  Government  set  forth  in  the  Constitution, 
clothed  with  the  exercise  of  certain  delegated,  specific  and 
limited  powers.  In  England  it  is  competent  for  the  Parliament 
at  any  time  to  return  to  the  Crown  all  the  Powers  heretofore 
extorted  from  their  Kings.  They  are  are  not  restrained  as  our 
Congress  is,  by  a  want  of  power  to  do  so  on  their  part.  They 
can  repeal  any  day  Magna  Charta,  the  Habeas  Corpus  net  and 
the  whole  Bill  of  Rights,  and  render  their  ruling  Monarch  «• 
absolute  as  either  of  the  ,Tudors  or  Stuarts  ever  claimed  of 
wished  to  be.     The  principles  of  Magna   Charta  as  to  personal 


15 

liberty  and  the  right  of  the. writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  to  secure 
those  rights  are  put  in  our  fundamental  laws,  and  cannot  be  vio- 
lated by  Congress,  for  their*  powers  are  limited,  and  they  arc 
themselves  bound  by  the  Constitution.  That  the  British  peo- 
ple would  ever  submit  to  a  surrender  of  their  rights  by  Parlia- 
ment, no  one  can  fpr  a  moment  believe.  But  Parliament  claims 
to  be  omnipotent  and  could  make  the  surrender,  if  they  chose 
to  run  the  risk.  Hence  analogies  between  this  country  aud  that 
on  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  and  the  effect 
of  such  suspension,  either  generally  or  specially,  should  be 
closely  scanned,  even  in  England,  so  great  is  the  regard  for 
liberty,  suspensions  have  been  rare  since  the  settlement  of 
less-^.  The  writ  wa*  suspended  there  in  1715  and  in  1745 — 
and  in  17-^8  it  was  suspended  In  Ireland  with  the  Power  con- 
ferred oil!,  L  <rd  Lieutenant  to  make  arrests.  Under  the  sva- 
tem  of  (Government  in  England,  the  Parliament,  could  confer 
this  power  upon  the  Grown  or  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  or  upon  any 
other  person  they  saw  fit.  Not  so  with  our  Congress,  under 
our  Constitution.  In  criticisms  upon  the  Governor's  Message, 
these  suspensions  have  been  alluded  to  against  the  positions  of 
the  Message.  They  are  not  ia  conflict  at  all.  What  the  Gover- 
nor states  is  that  he  is  not  aware  of  any  "instance  in  which  the 
British  King  has  ordered  the  arrest  of  any  person  in  civil  life 
in  any  other  mauner  than  by  judicial  warrant  issued  by  the  es- 
tablished  Courts  of  the  nation,  or  in  which  he  has  suspended  or 
attempted  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  //<//><  75  Cor- 
pus, since  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Act  01  settlement  passed 
in  1689."  lie  did  not  Ba)  that  Parliament  had  not  suspended 
it,  or  that  our  Congress  could  not  suspend  it,  in  a  proper  way, 
but  that  even  in  England,  where  Parliament  was  unrestrained, 
they  had  not,  sinee  the  settlement  eoyferteij  upon  the  Qrown, 
the  power  to  make  ail  fai  as  he  was  aware. 

At  this  point  I  will  briefly  refer  to  the  suspension  by  our 
Congress,  alluded  to  the  other  night  by  the  distinguished  gen- 
tleman, (Hon.  A.  II.  Kenan)  who  lately  represented  this  Dis- 
trict ;  a  gentleman  whose  remarks  I  listened  to  with  a  great 
deal  of  interest,  and  whose  personal  friendship  I  esteem  so 
highly.  He  referred  to  the  Act  of  the  Confederate  Congress, 
passed  October  13,  1862,  and  asked — Why  were  there  no  ob- 
jections made  to  that?  This  Act  he  read.  I  have  it  before 
me.  It  provides  that  the  "  President,  during  the  present 
invasion,  shall  have  the  power  to  suspend  the  privileges  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  any  city,  town,  or  military  district, 
whenever,  in  his  judgment,  the  public  safety  may  require  it ; 
but  such  suspension  shall  apply  only  to  arrests  made  by  the  au- 
thorities of  the  Confederate  Government,  or  for  offences  against 
the  same,"  and  in  section  2d,  that  "  the  President  shall  cause 
proper  officers  to  investigate  the  cases  of  all  persons  so  arrest- 
ed, in  order  that  they  may  be  discharged  if  improperly  detain- 


if; 

eel,  unless  they  can  be  greedily  tried  in  due  course  of  law.'7 
The  3d  section  limits  the  Act  to  thirty  days,  after  the  meeting 
of  the  next  Congress. 

The  answer  to  the  enquiry,  why  there  was  no  noise  made 
aboWt  this  Act,  while  there  is  so  much,  made  about  the  one 
lately  passed,  is  two  fold.  In  the  first  place,  this  Act  applied 
u  only  to  arrests  made  by  the  aut /critics  of  the  Confederate 
Government" — u  for  offences  against  the  same."  The  proper 
authorities  for  issuing  warra?ds  to  arrest,  are  the  Courts,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  issue  warrants  for  arrests  whenever  offences  or 
crimes  are  charged  upon  oath  or  affirmation,  stating  probable 
eause.  The  section  directing  the  President  to  cause  "  proper 
officers  to  investigate  the  cases,  tfec,"  in  its  immediate  connec- 
tion with  the  proceeding,  had  nothing  in  it  calculated  to  awaken, 
alarm,  or  excite  objection,  for  by  "proper  officers"  all  naturally 
supposed  judicial  officers  only  could  be  meant — Judges  who 
Avould  or  might  act  in  discharging  under  writs  of  Habeas  corpus, 
if  that  privilege  had  not  been  suspended.  In  this  connection,  these 
words  seemed  naturally  enough  to  have  a  meaning  far  different 
from  what  they  have  when  taken  from  their  context  and  put 
into  this  late  Act,  in  which  it  is  clear  enough  they  are  there 
intended  to  apply  to  other  than  judicial  officers.  There  was 
then,  nor  now,  any  objection,  as  far  as  I  am  aware  of,  to 
the  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  eorpus  in 
any  city,  town,  or  district,  or  generally  throughout  the  coun- 
try, if  Congress  really  has  good  reasons  to  believe  the  public 
safety  requires  it,  and  if  the  power  to  suspend  be  constitution- 
ally exercised.  .  The  objection  to  the  late  Act  is  that  it  attempts 
to  do  what,  cannot  constitutionally  be  done. 

But  in  the  second  place,  in  answer  to  the  enquiry,  why  no 
nofed  was  made  about  the  Act  of  October,  1  £0*2,  I  need  only 
say,  that  upon  the  bare  statement  of  the  real  and  substantial 
objections  to  that  Act,  it  was  admitted  to  be  unconstitutional 
and  void,  because  it  attempted  to  confer  the  power  to  suspend 
the  writ  upon  the  President,  when,  in  his  judgment,  the  public 
safety  required  it  jn  the  localities  embraced  in  its  terms.  Con- 
gress alone,  under  the  Constitution,  has  the  power  to  suspend 
1  he  privileges  of  the  writ.  They  cannot  confer  this  power  upon 
the  President  or  anybody  else.  This  is  now  conclusively  ad- 
mitted both  by  Congress  and  the  President  in  the  late  act,  for 
it  is  set  forth  in  the  preamble,  "  whereas,  the  power  of  suspend- 
ing the  privilege  of  said  writ  is  vested  solely  in  the  Congress," 
<fcc.  This  is  an  admission  on  the  record  that  the  other  Act 
wras  unconstitutional  and  void.  But,  to  my  mind,  it  is  just  as 
clear  that  Congress  cannot  confer  upon  the  President,  or  any 
other  officer  but  a  judicial  one,  the  power  to  issue  orders  or 
warrants  for  the  arrest  of  persons  in  civil  life  as  it  was  then, 
and  on  the  passage  of  a  similar  Act  previously  that  they  could 
not  confer  the  power  upon  the  President  to  suspend  the  privi- 


17 

lege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  The  late  Act  is  just  as  void 
as  the  previous  ones,  aud  for  a  like  reason.  In  it  Congress  has 
attempted  to  do  whatthey*had  not  power  to  do.  The  first  Act 
on  the  subject  was  absented  to  on.  the  27th  February, 
1862.  That  attempted  to  vonfer  on  the  President  the  power 
not  only  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
in  certain  cities,  towns,  military  districts,  etc.,  but  to  declare 
martial  late,  Arc.  This  soo^  after  was  amended.  But  no 
one  can  say  thai  during  the  progress  of  these  events  that  I 
was  silent.  My  sentiments  upon  the  subject  of  martial  law. 
against  the  unconstitutional  usurpations  of  power,  were  pro- 
claimed throughout  the  Confederacy,  as  they  are  now,  and  will 
be  proclaimed  against  the  dangerous  departures  from  principle 
in  this  aK.  Martial  law  ha*  been  abandoned,  and  I  trust  the 
departures  T  >m  principle  in  this  Act  will  be  tot-.  I  speak  upon 
these  as  I  n\  ryte  upon  thos< .  I  have  no  inclination  to  arraign 
the  motive  of  those  who  disagree  with  me.  Great  principles 
are  at  stakv,  and  [  feci  impelled  by  a  high  sense  of  duty,  when 
n.y  opinions  are  sought,  to  give  them  fully,  clearly,  and  earn- 
estly. 

A  few  thoughts  more  upon  the  subject  in  another  view. 
These  relate  *o  T-he  objects  a«d  workings  of  the  Art.  if  it  be 
sustained  and  carried  out.  You  have  been  told  that  it  affects 
none  but  the  disloyal,  none  but  traitors,  or  those  who  are  no 
better  than  traitors,  spies,  bridge  burner.-,  and  the  like,  and 
yem  have  been  appealed  to  and  asked,  if  any  such  are  entitled 
to  your  sympathies  t  I  affirm,  and  shall  maintain  before  the 
world  that  this  Act  affects  and  may  wrongfully  0] 
and  as  good  citizen*  a  true  to  our   cause  as  ever  trod  the 

-oil   or    breathed   the  air  of  the  South.     This  I  sha 

lo  you  that,  no  man  will  ever  venture  '  v  or  deny 

it.     This   long   list  of  otfei  -       forth  in   sm-h  array,  iu  tin.' 

■en   specifications,    are,  as   I    view    them,  but  ro 
verbage,  which  tend   I  I  hide  wl 

will  be  found  to  fee  the  whol<  Let.    \Yi* 

the  real  object   and  intention  of  its  tranters  and  advocates,  I 
know  not.     Against  their  >r  patriotism  I  have  nothing 

10  say.     I  take  the  Act  as  I  rind  it.     The  real  gist  of  the  whole 
of  it  lies,  so  far  :us  appears  upon  its  face,  covered  up  in  the  fifth 
-;  education  near  the  middle  of  the  Act.    It  > 
words — uand  attempts  to  avoid  military  service  I"   ' 

Here  is  a  plain  indisputable  attempt  to  deny  every  ortii 
this  broad  land  the  right,  if  ordered  into  service,  to  have  the 
question  whether  lie  is  liable  to  military  duty  under'  the  laws 
tried  and  adjudicated  by  the  courts  ?  Whether  such  was  the 
real  object  and  intention  of  those  who  voted  for  the  bill,  I 
know  not,  but  such  would  be  its  undeniable  effect  if  sustained 
and  enforced.  A  man  over  fifty  years  of  age,  with  half  a  dozen 
sons  in  the  field,  who  has  done  every  thing  in  his  power  for  the 


L8 

cause  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  may,  under  instruction* 
from  the  Secretary  of  War,  be  arrested  by  the  sub-enrolling  of- 
ficer and  ordered  to  catnp,  upon  the  assumed  ground  that,  in 
point  of  fact,  he  is  under  fifty.  lruder  this  law,  if  it  be  law,  he 
would  be  without  remedy  or  redress.  A  case  to  illustrate  by 
occurred  within  my  own  knowledge  last  fall.  Orders  were  is- 
sued to  examine  the  census  returns  of  1S60,  as  to  the  ages  of 
persons,  and  instructions  «iven  to  sub-enrolling  officers  to  be 
governed  as  to  the  age  of  parties  by  those  returns.  In  the 
ease  alluded  to  by  the  census  returns,  the  party  was  not  forty- 
five  at  the  time  of  arrest.  He  protested  that  he  had  not  made 
the  census  returns  himself — that  the  return  was  erroneous,  it 
was  not  given  in  under  oath — that  he  was  able  to  prove  by  evi- 
dence entirely  satisfactory,  that  he  was  over  forty-five  and  not 
liable  under  the  law  as  it  then  stood  to  military  service.  His 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus — his  right  to  have  this 
question  of  fact  and  law  settled  by  the  courts,  wa:;  not  then 
iuspended,  and  he  was  discharged.  But  what  would  be  his 
situation,  and  that  of  all  others  in  like  circumstances,  if  this 
Act  be  held  to  be  law  ?  It  is  said  that  the  Act  affects  none  but 
the  disloyal,  and  that  no  good  law-abiding  man  can  justly  com- 
plain of  it !  As  I  view  it,  its  main  effect  is  to  close  the  doors 
of  justice  against  thousands  of  citizens,  good  and  true,  who 
may  appeai  to  the  courts  for  their  legal  rights.  Take  the  case 
ot"  those  who  availed  themselves  of  the  law  to  put  in  substi- 
tutes— some  for  one  motive,  and  some  for  another — some,  doubt- 
less, for  not  only  good  but  patriotic  motives,  believing  that  they 
could  render  the  country  more  service  at  home  than  in  the  field. 
r  know  one  who  has  put  in  two,  one  when  the  call  was  for 
those  up  to  thirty  five  years  of  age,  the  other  when  the  call  was 
to  forty-five.  One  of  these  substitutes  was  an  alien,  whose  ser- 
vices could  not  have  been  commanded  by  the  government,  and 
who  is  now  at  Charleston,  and  has  been  during  the  whole  siege 
of  that  place.  This  man  who  put  in  these  two  substitutes,  re- 
mained at  home  most  usefully  employed  in  producing  provi- 
sions for  the  army.  Ail  his  surplus  went  that  way,  while  he  had 
two  men,  abler  bodied  than  he  was,  fighting  for  him  in  the  field. 
Who  would  say  that  such  a  man  is  disloyal  to  the  cause,  if,  be- 
lieving in  his  heart  that  he  was  not  liable  under  his  contract,  as 
he  supposed,  with  his  government,  he  should  appeal  to  the 
courts  to  decide  the  question  whether  he  is  liable  under  the  law 
or  not  ?  As  to  the  law  allowing  substitutes  in  the  first  instance, 
and  then  the  law  abrogating  or  annuHmg  it,  and  calling  the 
principals  into  the  field,  I  have  nothing  to  say.  What  I  main- 
tain is,  that  it  is  the  great  constitutional  right  of  any  and  every 
party  affected  by  the  last  of  these  Acts  on  the  subject,  to  have 
the  question  of  his  legal  liability  judicially  determined  if  he 
choses,  and  then  as  a  good  law  abiding  citizen  act  accordingly. 
Take  another  illustration  of  the  practical  workings  of  the 


19 

Act.  Congress  by  law  exempted  from  conscription  sncli  v 
officers  as  the.  Legislatures  oiLfhe  respective  States  might  desig- 
nato  as  proper  to  be  retained  For  State  purposes.  At  your  hist 
session  you,  bV  resolution,  designated  all  the  civil  and  militia 
officers  of  the  State.  A  late  order  has  been  issued  by  General 
Cooper,  as  is  seen  in  the  papers,  doubtless  under  order  from 
the  Secretary  of  War,  to  enrol  and  send  to  camp  a  large  num- 
ber of  these  otticers — amongst  others;  Justices  of  the  P 
Tax  Receivers  and  Collectors.  This  order  is  clearly  against  the 
law  of  Congress  and  your  solemn  resolution.  It  is  in  direct  an- 
tagonism to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  ol  this  State,  in 
the  very  case  in  which  they  sustained  the  power  of  Congress  to 
raise  troops  by  conscription,  but  in  which  they  held  that  the 
power  was  limited,  and  that  the  civil  oncers  of  the  States  could 
not  be  constitutionally  conscripted.  I  use  the  word  conscr 
purposely — I  know  there  is  no  such  word  in  the.  Knglish  lan- 
guage— neither  is  there  any  such  word  ■,-//«•,  the  one 
usually  in  rogue  now  a  days.  V  new  word  had  to  he  coined 
for  a  process  or  mode  of  raising  armies,  unheard  of  and  un 
dreamed  of  by  our  ancestors,  and  I  ehoosd  to  coin  one  which 
best  expresses  my  idea  of  it.  l>ut  under  this  order  of  General 
Cooper,  is  it  not  the  right  of  these  officers,  is  it  not  the  right  of 
the  State,  to  have  the  question  of  tfic.ir  liability  to  conscription 
determined  by  the  Judiciary  ?  Is  it  not,  the  high  dut  \  of  Con- 
gress to  compel  the  Secretary  oi'  War  and  General  Cooper  t<» 
abide  by  that  decision  and  to  oitey  their  own  laws,  instead  of 
attempting  to  close  the  doors  of  the  courts  against  the  adjudi- 
cation of  all  such  matters  that  come  within  the  sphere  of  their 
constitutional  duti< 

Again,  Congress  by  the  last,  section  of  the  hrsl  Conscript  Act, 
declared  that  all  who  were  or  should  be  subject  to  ii  might, 
previous  to  enrollment,  volunteer  in  any  companies  then  in  tie- 
service.  Notwithstanding  this  express  law  of  Ooi  -ecur 
ing  the  right  of  any.  person  liable  to  conscription  to  volunteer 
in  any  company  then  in  the  service  previous  to  enrollment, 
General  Cooper  has  issued  an  order  by  direction  of  the  S 
tary  of  War,  doubtless,  denying  this  right  to  /oituJteer  in  anv 
company  then  in  existence,  unless  the  number  in  such  companv 
is  less  than  sivty-four  men.  Under  this  illegal  order  a -number 
of  as  brave,  gallant,  chivalrous,  noble  spirited  youths,  as 
went  forth  to  battle  for  their  country  and  peril  their  lives  fpr 
constitutional  liberty,  will  be  deprived  of  their  birth-right — the 
right  to  have  questions  of  law,  affecting  their  liberty,  determin- 
ed by  the  courts — if  this  Act,  closing  the  courts  against  them, 
shall  be  held  to  be  valid  !  Tell  me  not  that  this  Act  affects  nom* 
but  traitors,  spies,  and  the  disloyal !  I  heard  not  long  since  oi 
a  case  in  Albany;  a  father  carried  his  son  to  the  district'  en~ 
rolling  ofiicer;  he  had  just  arrived  at  the  age  when  he  wa<* 
liable  to  conscription  ;  he  never  wished  him  to  <rn  to  the  war 


20 

as  a  conscript.  His  older  brothers  had  gone  before  him,  they 
went  out  early  in  the  war  as  volunteers,  and  then  formed  part 
of  that  living  wall  of  freemen  which  still  stands  between  us 
and  a  ruthless  foe.  He  told  the  enrolling  officer,  in  substance, 
that  he  had  brought  this  boy,  the  Benjamin  of  his  heart,  as 
another  offering  on  the  altar  of  his  country.  He  was  going 
as  a  volunteer  under  that  clause  of  the  Act  alluded  to ;  he 
had  selected  the  company  to  which  his  brothers  belonged. 
He  was  told  this  could  not  be  allowed.  At  this  the  father 
was  greatly  surprised  ard  mortified,  as  may  be  readily  under- 
stood;  he  insisted  upon  the  rights  of  his  son.  Great  as  his 
surprise  was  at  first  however,  greater  was  it  still  to  be.  The 
son  was  ordered  to  jail,  to  be  sent  to  the  Camp  of  Instruction, 
to  be  assigned  to  any  company  his  officers  ruigl.it  choose. — 
The  high  spirited  youth,  scorning  conscription,  offering  him- 
self as  a  volunteer,  asking  nothing  but  his  legal  rights,  instead 
of  being  sent  on  with  cheers  by  the  crowd,  and  a  father's 
parting  blessing,  was  sent  to  jail  us  a  felon  ! 

Can  any  one  say  that  this  was  not  a  most  shameful  outrage? 

It  is,  however,  but  one  of  a  thousand  cases  like  it  that  may 
occur,  and  probably  will  occur,  should  this  law  be  held  to  be 
constitutional ;  and  if  the  doors  of  the  Courts  are  to  be  closed 
against  all  who  maybe  ordered  to  the  military  service,  without 
any  regard  to  law.  I  have  here  tw  tetters  which  will  further 
illustrate  how  this  Act  will  work  v  are  both  addressed  to 

the  Governor.  One  is  from  a  Mr.  a  -  w*\  H.  "Parker,  written 
in  Charleston  jail.  |  Here  Mr.  S.  read  ,  •  etter,  stating  that  the 
writer  was  a  native  Georgian.  That  he  i  •  ved  in  Whitfield  coun- 
ty. That  he  was  forty-seven  years  of  age,  as  the  record  would 
show,  then  in  W  hit  Held  county.  That  he  was  at  his  home  with 
his  wife,  (who  was  then  sick,)  with  ten  small  children,  on  the 
2?th  of  February,  of  this  ye;ir,  when  a  party  on  horses,  came 
and  arrested  him,  and  earned  him  to  Dalton.  And  from  Dal- 
ton,  he  was  carried  to  Atlanta.  He  protested  that  he  was  over 
age,  and  not  liable  to  military  duty  ;  that  he  was  forty-seven 
years  old.  He  was  told  that  that  was  the  right  age  to  make  a 
soldier  in  South  Carolina,  and  he  was  sent  on  to  Charleston, 
where  he  was  in  jail.  He  appealed  to  the  Governor  of  his  na- 
tive State,  and  the  State  of  his  residence,  to  have  justice  done 
him.]  Of  this  Mr.  Parker,  (said  Mr.  S.)  I  know  "nothing,  ex- 
cept what  is  stated  iu  this  letter.  It  may  be  false,  and  yet  it 
may  be  true.  If  true,  justice  ought  to  be  done  to  a  man  so 
greatly  outraged  and  wronged.  But  whether  true  or  false,  the 
Courts  ought  never  to  be  closed  against  an  enquiry  into  the 
facts,  and  never  will  be,  so  long  as  personal  security  has  any 
protection  in  this  country. 

The  other  letter  is  from  the  Hon.  John  Oats,  a  member  of 
this  House,  from  the  county  of  Murray.  It  is  dated  the  1 1th  of 
this  month,  the  dav  after  the  meeting  of   this  session.     [Here 


21 

Mr.  S.  read  Mr.  Oats'  letter,  stating  that  he  was  detained  ai  At- 
lanta under  very  painful  circumstances.  His  oldest  sod,  who 
had  been  in  the  army,  was  subject  to  epilepsy,  and  had  been 
discharged  in  eonscjiience.  That  afterwards  he  liadl»een  car 
lied  before  a  Board  of  Physicians,  who  pronouns!  his  case  in- 
curable, and  he  was  given  a  certificate  of  final  discharge,  on  the 
grounds  of  permanent  disability.  That  oil  the  morning  Mr. 
Oats  left  home  for  Milledgeville,  the  provost  Guard  a1  Dalton, 
went  to  his  house  at  Spring  Place/artd  earned  hla  'on  off  to 
Dalton.  They  carried  him  from  there  to  ( 'artcrsville,  to  ('apt. 
Starr,  the  enrolling  officer  for   the  10th   <  -nal  District, 

and  be,  knowing  all  about  his  case,  sent  him  back  to  Dalton, 
stating  in  writing  on  the  order,  that  lie  v,  as  sent  there  under, 
that  according  to  law,  and  his  orders  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment, he  was  not  liable  to  Conscription.  That  on  his  return  to 
Dalton,  they  put  him  in  irons,  and  assigned  him  to  Charleston. 
to  go  into  the  fortifications,  and  thai  he  expected  him  in  Atlan- 
ta that  evening,  lie  was  waiting  with  the  best  counsel  he  could 
get,  to  see  if  there  Wttfl  any  virtue  in  the  writ  or  hctfotis  Gorptle. 
He  asked  that  the  Governor  would  get  sonic  member  to  procure 
for  him,  leave  of  ah-  m  the  Hdnse.] 

Well  for  Mr.  Oati  Stephens)  and  his  afflicted  son, 

there  is  some  virtue  yet  in  th<       rit  Iff  hdbecfe 

But  what  virtue  won!-;  1  •  in  i  \{"\\  is  denied  under  this  \<  t, 
to  all  wao  attempl  ervice.     NotHtrg  ©ouW )x\ 

duce  me  to  read  such  l<  a  sense  oi 

duty,  to  show  you  what  will  be  the  state  of  things  all  over  the 
country,  under  the  operatioi  eh  a  law,  When  orders  are  is- 

sued for  its  enforcement,  and  to  put  yon  on  TOtir  guard,  against 
the  flippant  .phrase  thai  the  /Vet  will  atre.t  n.>n<>  but  trait  >v~, 
spies  and  disloyal  people.  Dad  it  been  in  operation,  had  the 
Courts  regarded  it,  Mr.  Oats*  son;  who  hud  Ad  ,  d  his  country 
faithfully,  as  long  as  he  was  able,  micjhi  noM  u  beyond 

remedy,  beyond  redress  and  beyond  hope.  Will  you  say,  can 
you  say,  that  the  Courts  ought  to  be,  or  can  be  closed,  against 
such  monstrous  wrongs?  Will  you  not  rather  pu!  upon  the  at- 
tempt to  do  it,  the  seal  of  your  unqualified  condemnation  ? 
Tell  me  not,  to  pat  confidence  in  the  President".  That  he  will 
never  abuse  the  power  attempted  to  bo  lodged  in  his  hands. 
The  abuses  may  not  be  by  the  President.  He  will  njDt  execute 
the  military  orders  that  will  be  given.  This  will  necessarily  de 
volvc  upon  subordinates,  scattered  all  over  the  country,  from 
the  Potomac  to  the  liio  Grande.  He  would  have  to  possess  t  w<» 
superhuman  attributes,  to  prevent  abuses- —  omniscience,  and 
omnipresence ! 

These  things  our  forefathers  knew,  and  hence  they  threw 
around  the  personal  security  of  the  free  citizens  of  this  country 
a  tinner,  safer,  surer  protection,  than  coniidence  in  any  man, 
against  abuses  of  power,  even  when  exercised  under  his  own 


22 

eye  and  by  hiuibeli.  That  protection  is  the  shield  of  the  Con- 
stitution. See  to  it  that  you  do  not  in  an  evil  hour  tear  this 
shield  orl  and  cast  it  away,  or  permit  others  to  do  it,  lest  in  a 
dav  you  wot  not  of,  you  sorely  repent  it. 

Enough  has   been  said,   without  dwelling  longer  upon  this 
point,  to  show,  without  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  the  Act 
does  affect  others,  and  large  classes   of   others  than   spies,  trai- 
tors, bridge  burners  and  disloyal  persons— that  the  very  gist  of 
the  Act,  whatever  may  have  been  the  intent  or  the  motive,  will 
operate  most  wrongfully  and  oppressively  on  as  loyal,  as  patri- 
otic, and  as  true  men  as  ever  inherited  a  freeman's  birthright 
under   a  Southern  sky.     You  have  also  seen  that  there  is  and 
can  be  no  necessity  for  the  passage  of  such  an  Act,  even  if  it 
were  constitutional,  in  the  case  of   spies,  traitors,  or  conspira- 
tors.    For,  if  there  be  a  traitor  in  the  Confederacy — if  such  a 
monster  exists— if  any    well  grounded  suspicion  is  entertained 
that  any  Mich  exists,  why  not  have  him  legally  arrested,  by  ju- 
dicial warrant,  upon  oath  or  affirmation,  setting  forth  probable 
cause,  and  then  he  can  be  held  under  a  constitutional  suspension 
of  the   privileges   of  the   writ— he  can  be  tried,  and  if  found 
•/nilty,  punished.     What  more  can  the  public  safety  by  possi- 
biity  require  V     Why  dispense  with  the  oath  ?     Why  dispense 
with  judicial  warrants  ?     Why  put  it  in  the  power  of  any  man 
on  earth  to  order  the  arrest  of  another  on  a  simple  charge,  to 
which  nobody  will  zuxar  $     Who  is  sale  under  such  a  law  ? 
Who  knows,  when  he  goes  forth,  when  or  whether  he  shall 
ever  return  ?     The  President,  according  to  this  Act,  is  to  have 
power  to  arrest  and  imprison  who  ever  he  pleases,  upon  a  bare 
charge,  made,  perhaps,  by  an  enemy  of  disloyalty^    The  party 
making  the  charge  not  being  required  to  swear  to  it!     Who,  I 
repeat,  is  safe  or  would  be  under  such  a  law  ?     What  were  the 
real  objects  of  the  Act,  in  these  clauses,  as  to  treason,  disloy- 
alty, and  the  others,  I  do  not  know.     To  me  it  seems  to  be  un- 
reasonable to  suppose  that  it  was  to  reach  real  traitors  and  per- 
sons guilty  of  the  offences  stated.     For  that  object  could  have 
been'easily  accomplished  without  any  such  extraordinary  pow- 
er.    I   was   not   at  Richmond  when  the  Act  passed.     I  heard 
uonc  of  the  discussions,  ami  knew  none  of  the  reasons  assigned, 
either  by  the  President  in  asking  it,  or  the  members  or  Senators 
who  voted  for  it.     I  was  at  home,  prostrate  with  disease,  from 
which  I  have  not  yet  recovered,  and  by  reason  of  which  I  ad- 
dress  you  with  so  much  feebleness  on  this  occasion.     But  I 
have  heard  that  one  object  was  to  control  certain  elections  and 
expected  assemblages  i'u  North  Carolina,  to  put  a  muzzle  upon 
certain  presses  and  a  bit  in  the  mouth  of  certain  speakers  in 
that  State.     If   this  be  so,  I  regard  it  the  more  dangerous  to 
public  liberty.     1  know  nothing  of  the  politics  of  North  Caro- 
lina—nothing of   the  position  "of  her  leading  public  men.     If 
there  be  traitors  there,  let  them  be  constitutionally  arrested, 


23 

tried  and  punished.  No  tears  need  be  indulged  of  bare  error 
there,  or  anywhere  else,  if  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it.  The 
idea  is  incredible,  that  a  majority  of  the  people  of  that  gallant 
and  noble  old  State,  which  was.  foremost  in  tb*  war  of  the 
Revolution  in  her  ever  memorable  Mecklenburg  Declaration  ot 
Independence  can,  if  let  alone,  ever  be  induced  to  prove  them- 
selves so  recreant  to  Ibe  principles  of  their  fathers  as  to  aban- 
don our  cause  and  espouse  the  despotism  of  the  North.  Her 
people,  ahead  of  all  the  Colonies,  first  flaunted  in  the  breeze  the 
tlag  of  Indep«  ndence  and  State  Sovereignty.  She  cannot  be. 
the  first  to  abandon  it — no,  never  !  I  cannot  believe  it!  If  her 
people  were  really  so  inclined,  however,  we  could  not  prevent 
it  by  force — we  could  not,  under  the  Constitution  if  we  would, 
and  we  ought  not  if  we  could.  Ours  is  a  government  founded 
upon  the  consent  of  sovereign  States,  and  will  be  itself  destroy- 
ed by  the  very  act  whenever  it  attempts  to  maintain  or  perpet- 
uate its  existence  by  force  over  its  respective  members.  Ti  e 
surest  way  to  check  any  inclination  in  North  Carolina  to  quit 
our  sisterhood,  if  any  such  really  exist  even  to  the  most  limited 
extent  amongst  her  people,  is  to  show  them  that  the  struggle 
is  continued  as  it  was  begun,  for  the  maintenance  of  constitu- 
tional liberty.  If,  with  this  great,  truth  ever  before  them,  a 
majority  of  her  people  should  prefer  d<  s'potism  to  liberty,  1 
would  say  to  her,  as  to  "  a  wayward  sister,  depart  in  peace. :' 
I  want  to  see  no  Maryland  this  side  of  the  Potomac. 

Another  serious  objection  to  the  measure,  showing  its  impob- 
<  v,  is  the  effect  it  will  have  upon  our  cause  abroad.  I  have  never 
locked  to  foreign  intervention,  or  early  recognition,  and  do  not 
now.  European  governments  have  no  sympathy  with  either 
side  in  this  struggle.  They  are  rejoiced  bo  Me  professed  repub- 
licans cutting  each  other's  throats,  and  the  failure,  as  thev  chink, 
of  the  great  experiment  of  self-government  on  this  continent. 
They  saw  that  the  North  went  into  despotism  immediately  on 
the  separation  of  the  South,  and  their  fondest  hopes  and  expec- 
tations are  that  the  same  destiny  awaits  us.  This  has  usually 
been  the  fate  of  republics.  This  is  the  sentiment  of  all  the  gov 
ernraents  in  Europe.  But  we  have  friends  there,  as  you  heard  last 
night,  in  the  eloquent  remarks  of  the  gentleman  [Hon.  L.  Q.  C 
Lamar |  who  addressed  you  on  our  foreign  relations,  and  who 
has  lately  returned  from  those  countries.  Those  friends  are 
anxiously  and  hopefully  watching  the  issue  of  the  present  con- 
flict. In  speeches,  papers  and  reviews  they  are  defending  our 
cause.  No  argument  used  by  them  heretofore  has  been  more 
effectual  than  the  contrast  drawn  between  the  Federals  and  the 
Confederates  upon  the  subject  of  the  writ  oti  h</beas  corpus. 
Here,  notwithstanding  our  dangers  and  perils,  the  military  has 
always  been  kept  subordinate  to  the  civil  authorities.  Here  all 
the  landmarks  of  English  liberty  have  been  preserved  and  main- 
tained, while  at  the  North  not  a  vestige  of  them  is  left.    There, 


rt 


24 

instead  of  courts  of  justice  with  open  doors,  the  country  is  dot- 
ted all  over  with  prisons  and  bastil.es.  No  better  argument  in 
behalf  of  a  people  struggling  for  constitutional  liberty  could 
have  been  presented  to  arouse  sympathy  in  01,1  iuvor.  It 
showed  that  we  were  passing  through  a  fiery  furaaeo  for  a 
•seat  cause,  and  passsing  through  unscathed.  It  showed  that 
whatever  may  be  the  state  of  things  at  the  North,  that  at 
the  South  at  least  the  great  light  of  the  principles  of  self-go  v- 
ei -merit,  civil  and  religious  liberty,  established  on  this  continent 
by  our  ancestors,  which  was  looked  to  with  encouragement  and 
hope  by  the  down-trodden  ot  all  nations,  was  not  yet  extin- 
guished, but  was  still  burning  brightly  in  the  hands  ot  their 
Southern  sons,  ev.en  burning  the  more  brightly  from  the  inten- 
sity of  the  heat  of  the  conflict  in  which  we  are  engaged.  To 
us*  in  deed  and  in  truth,  is  committed  the  hopes  of  the  world 
as  to  the  capacity  and  ability  of  man  for  self  government.  Let 
us  see  to  it  that  these  hopes  and  expectations  do  not  fail.  Let 
us  prove  ourselves  equal  to  the  high  mission  before  us. 

One  other  view  only,  that  relates  to  the  particularly  danger- 
ous tendency  of  this  act  in  the  present  state  of  the  country,  and 
the  policy  indicated  by  Congress.  Conscription  has  been  ex- 
tended to  embrace  all  between  seventeen  and  fifty  years  ot  age. 
It  cannot  be  possible  that  the  intention  and  object  of  that  mea- 
sure was  really  to  call  and  keep  in  the  held  all  between  those 
ages.  The  folly  and  ruinous  consequences  of  such  a  policy  is 
too  apparent.  Details  arc  to  be  made,  and  must  be  made,  to  a. 
large  extent.  The  effect  and  the  object  of  this  measure,  there- 
tore,  was  not  to  raise  armies  or  procure  soldiers,  but  to  put  all 
the  population  of  the  country  between  those  ages  under  military 
law.  Whatever  the  object  was,  the  effect  is  to  put  much  the 
larger  portion  of  the  labor  of  the  country,  both  white  and  slave, 
under  the  complete  control  of  the  President.  Under  this  system 
almost  all  the  useful  and  necessary  occupations  of  life  will  be 
< -ompletely  under  Uie  control  of  one  man.  No  one  between  the 
ago*  oi'  seventeen  and  fifty  can  tan  your  leather*  make  your  shoes, 
-rind  your  grain,  shoe  your  horse,  lay  your  plough,  make  your  wa- 
gon, repair  your  harness,  superintend  your  farm,  procure  your  salt, 
or  perform  any  other  of  the  necessary  vocations  of  life,  (except 
teachers,  preachers  and  physicians,  and  a  very  few  others)  with- 
out permission  from  the  President.  This  is  certainly  an  extra- 
ordinary and  a  dangerous  power.  In  this  connection  take  in 
\  iew  this  habeas  corjms  suspension  act,  by  which  it  has  been 
ishowm  the  attempt  is  made  to  confer  upon  him  the  power  to 
order  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  any  man,  woman  or  child 
in  the  Confederacy,  on  the  bare  charge,  unsupported  by  oath, 
of  any  of  the  acts  for  which  arrests  are  allowed  to  be  made. 
Could  the  whole  country  be  more  completely  under  the  power 
and  control  of  one  man,  except  as  to  life-limb  ?  Could  dictatorial 
powers  be  more  complete?    In  this  connection  consider,  also, 


the  strong  appeals  that  have  been  made  for  some  time  past,  by 
leading  journals,  openly  for  a  Dictator.  Coming  events  often 
east  their  shadows  before.  Could  art  or  ingenuity  have  devised 
a  shorter  or  a  surer  eut  to  thnt  end,  for  all  practical  pan 
than  the  whole  policy  adopted  by  the  last  Congress,  and  now 
before ;  yon  for  consideration?  As  to  tin  oftjec'tff,  or  motives, 
or  patriotism  of  those  who  adopted  that  policy,  thai  is  not  the 
question.  The  presentation  of  the  case  as  it  stands  is  what 
yonr  attention  is  called  to.  Kor  is  the  probability  of  the  abiis«. 
of  the  power  the  question.  Some,  doubtless,  think  it  1 « •  i  LHn 
best  interests  of  the  country  to  have  a  Dictator.  Such  an 
unfrequently  t<-  be  met  with  whose  intelligence,  prol/ity  ami 
genera!  good  character  in  private  life  ate  not  to  i>e  question 
ed,  however  much  their  irisdom,  judgment  and  principles 
may  be  deplored.  In  such  times,  when  considering  the 
as  they  exist,  and  looking  at  the  policy  indicated  in 
bearings,  the  most  ill-timed,  delusive  and  dangerous  words  that 
can  be  uttered  are,  can  you  not  trust  the  President  ?  Have  you 
not  confidence  in  him  that  he  will  not  abuse  the  powers  thus 
confided  in  him?  To  all  such  questions  my  answer  is,  without 
uny  reflection  or  imputation  against OTir 'present  (Vief  Magistrate, 
that  the  measure  ot  my  confidence  in  him,  and  all  other  public 
officers,  is  the  Constitution.  To  the  question  of  whether  I  would 
not  or  cannot  trust  him  with  these  high  powers  not  conferred  by 
the  Constitution,  my  answer  is  the  same  that  ]  gaVe  to  one  who 
submitted  a  plan  for  a  dictatorship  to  me  $om<  months  ago:  u  1 
am  utterly  opposed  to  everything  looking  to,  or  tending  to 
wards  a  Dictatorship  in  this  country.  Language  would  fail  to 
give  utterance  to  my  inexpressible  repugnance  at  the  bare  sue- 
gestion  of  Btfch  a  lamentable  catastrophe.  There  is  no  man 
living,  and  not  one  of  the*tlhiStrious  dead,  whom,  if  noW 
I  would  .,o  trust." 

In  any  and  every  \icw,  therefore,  I  look  upon  this  habects  cor- 
pus suspension  Act  as  unwise,  impolitic,  unconstitutional  and 
dangerous  to  public  liberty. 

But  you  have  been  asked  what  can  you  do?    I  M  'an  do 

much.  If  you  believe  the  Act  to  be  unconstitutional,  you  can  and 
ought  so  to  declare  your  deliberate  judgment  to  be.  What  can 
yon  do  ?  AY  hat  did  Kentucky  and  Virginia  d&  in  !  708-'0&,  un 
der  similar  circumstances  ?  What  did  Jefferson  do,  and  what 
did  Madison  do,  and  what  did  the  legislators  of  those  Stales 
then  do  ? 

Though  a  war  was  then  threatening  with  France— though 
armies  were  being  raised — though  Washington  was  called  from 
his  retirement  to  take  command  as  Lieutenant-Gen efal — though 
it  was  said  then  as  now,  that  all  discussions  ot  even  obnoxious 
measures  of  Congress  would  be  hurtful  to  the  public  cause,  they 
did  not  hesitate,  by  solemn  resolves  by  the  Legislatures,  to  de- 
clare the  alien  and*  sedition  laws   unconstitutional  and   utterly 


26 

void  Those  Acts  of  Congress,  in  my  judgment,  were  not  more 
clearly  unconstitutional,  or  more  dangerous  to  liberty,  than  this 
Act  now  under  review.  What  can  you  do  ?  You  can  invoke 
its  repeal,  and  ask  the  government  officials  and  the  people  in 
the  meantime,  to  let  the  question  of  constitutionality  bo  sub 
mitted  to  the  courts,  and  both  sides  to  abide  by  the  decision. 

Some  seem  to  be  of  the  opinion,  that  those  who  oppose  this 
Act  are  for  a  counter-revolution.  No  such  thing,  I  am  for  no 
counter-revolution.  The  object  is  to  keep  the  present  one,  great 
in  its  aims  and  grand  in  its  purposes,  upon  the  right  track— 
the  one  on  which  it  was  started,  and  that  on  which  alone  it  can 
attain  noble  objects  and  majestic  achievements.  The  surest  way 
to  prevent  a  counter-revolution,  is  for  the  State  to  speak  out 
and  declare  her  opinions  upon  this  subject.  For  as  certain  as 
day  succeeds  night,  the  people  of  this  Confederacy  will  nevei 
live  long  in  peace  and  quiet  under  any  government  with  the 
principles  of  this  Act  settled  as  its  established  policy,  and  held 
to  be  in  conformity  with  the  j>ro visions  of  its  fundamental  law. 
The  action  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  in  1*799,  saved  the  old 
government,  beyond  question,  from  a  counter  and  a  bloody  re- 
volution ;  kept  It  on  the  right  track  for  sixty  years  afterwards, 
in  its  unparalleled  career  of  growth,  prosperity,  development, 
progress,  happiness,  and  renown.  All  our  present  troubles, 
North  and  South,  sprang  from  violations  of  those  great  con 
stitutional  principles  therein  set  forth. 

Let  no  one,  therefore,  be  deterred  from  performing  his  duty 
on  this  occasion  by  the  cry  of  counter  revolution,  nor  by  the 
cry  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all,  in  this  hour  of  peril,  to  support 
the  Government.  Our  Government  is  composed  of  Executive, 
Legislative  and  Judicial  Departments,  under  the  Constitution, 
He  most  truly  and  faithfully  supports  the  Government  who  sup 
ports  and  defends  the  Constitution,  lie  not  misled  by  this  cry, 
or  that  you  must  not  say  anything  against  the  administration,  or 
you  will  injure  the  cause.  This  is  the  argument  of  the  preacher, 
who  insisted  that  his  derelictions  should  not  be  expose. 1,  be- 
cause if  they  were,  it  would  injure  his  usefulness  as  a  ministei-. 
Derelict  ministers  are  not  the  cause.  Listen  to  no  such  cry. 
And  let  no  one  be  influenced  by  that  other  cry,  of  the  bad  ef- 
fect such  discussions  and  such  action  will  have  upon  our  gallant 
citiz-en  soldiers  in  the  field.  I  know  something  of  the  ieeling 
of  these  men.  I  have  witnessed  their  hardships,  their  priva- 
tions and  their  discomforts  in  camp.  I  have  witnessed  and 
ministered  to  their  wants  and  sufferings  from  disease  and 
wounds  in  hospitals.  I  know  something  of  the  sentiments  that 
actuated  the  great  majority  of  them,  when  they  quit  home, 
with  all  its  endearments,  and  went  out  to  this  war — not  as 
mercenaries  or  human  machines,  but  as  intelligent,  high-minded, 
noble  spirited  gentlemen,  who  wrere  proud  of  their  birthright 
as  freemen,  and  "who,  knowing  their  rights,"  dared  maintain 


them,  at  any  and  every  cost  and  sacrifice.  The  old  Barons 
who  extorted  Magna  Charta  from  their  oppressor  and  wrong- 
doer by  a  resort  to  arms,  did  not  present  a  grander  spectacle 
for  the  admiration  of  the  world  when  they  went  forth  to  their 
work,  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  sense  of  the  right  for  the 
right's  sake  than  this  gallant  band  of  patriots  did  when  they 
went  forth  to  this  war,  inspired  with  no  motive  but  a  thorough 
devotion  to  and  ardent  attachment  for  constitutional  liberty. 
To  defend  this  and  maintain  it  inviolate  for  themselves  and 
tliose  who  should  come  after  them,  was  their  sole  object.  Their 
ancient  right*,  usages,  institutions,  and  liberties  were  threaten- 
ed by  an  insolent  foe,  who  had  trampled  the  Constitution  of 
our  common  ancesters  under  foot.  They  and  we  all  had  quit 
the  Union,  when  the  rights  of  all  of  us  were  no  longer  respect- 
ed under  it,  but  we  had  rescued  the  Constitution — the  Ark  of 
the  Covenant — and  tins  is  what  they  went  forth  to  de+end. 
These  were  the  sentiments  with  which  your  armies  were  raised 
as  if  by  magic.  These  are  the  sentiments  with  which  re-enlist- 
ments for  the  war  have  been  made.  These  are  the  sentiments 
with  which  your  ranks  would  have  been  filled  to  the  last  man 
whose  services  can  be  relied  upon  in  action  if  conscription  had 
never  been  resorted  to. 

You  cannot,  therefore,  send  these  gallant  defenders  of  consti- 
tutional liberty,  a  more  cheering  message  than  th;it,  while  they 
are  battling  for  their  rights  and  the  common  rights  of  all  in  tin- 
field,  you  are  keeping  sacred  watch,  and  guard  over  the  same 
in  ;he  public  councils.  They  will  enter  the  fight  with  renewed 
vigor,  from  the  assurance  that  their  toil,  and  sacrifice  and  blood 
will  not  be  in  vain,  but  that  when  the  strife  is  over  and  inde- 
pendence is  acknowledged,  it  will  not  be  a  bare  name,  a  shadow 
and  a  mockery,  but  that  with  it  they  and  their  children  after 
them  shall  enjoy  that  liberty  for  which  they  now  peril  all. — 
Next  to  this,  the  most  encouraging  message  you  could  send 
them  is,  that  while  all  feel  that  the  brunt  of  the  fight  must  be 
borne  by  them  and  the  only,  sure  hope  of  success  is  in  the 
powers  of  their  arms,  yet  every  possible  and  honorable  effort 
will  be  made  by  the  civil  departments  of  the  government  to 
terminate  the  struggle  by  negotiation  and  adjustment,  upon  the 
principles  for  which  they  entered  the  contest. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  addressed  you  longer  than  I  expected  to 
bo  able  to  do.  My  strength  will  not  allow  me  to  say  more.  I  do 
not  knowT  that  I  shall  ever  address  you  again,  or  see  you  again. 
Great  events  have  passed  since  standing  in  this  place  three 
years  ago.  I  addressed  your  predecessors  on  a  similar  request, 
upon  the  questions  then  immediately  pending  our  present 
troubles.  Many  who  were  then  with  us  have  since  passed 
away — some  in  the  ordinary  course  of  life,  while  many  of 
them  have  fallen  upon  the  battle-field,  offering  up  their  lives 
in  the   great   cause   in   which  we  are  engaged.     Still   greater 


events  may  be  just  ahead  of  us.  What  fate  ov  fortui  e  awaifcs 
you  or  me,  in  the  contingencies  of  the  times,  is  unknown  to  us 
all.  We  may  meet  again,  or  we  may  not.  But  as  a  parting  re- 
membrance, a  lasting  memento,  to  be  engraven  on  your  memo- 
ries and  your  hearts,  I  wan  you  against  that  most  insideuus  en- 
emy which  approaches  with  her  syren  song,  "Independence  first 
and  Liberty  afterwards."  It  is  a  latal  delusion.  Liberty  is  the 
animating  spirit,  the  soul  of  our  system  of  Government,  and  like 
the  soul  5f  man,  when  once  lost  it  is  lost  forever.  There  is  for 
it  no  redemption,  except  through  blood.  Never  for  a  m©ment 
permit  yourselves  to  look  upon  liberty,  that  Constitutional  lib- 
erty which  you  inherited  as  a  birth  right,  as  subordinate  to  In- 
dependence" The  one  was  resorted  to,  to  secure  the  other. 
Let  them  ever  be  held  and  cherished  as  objects  co-ordinate, 
co-existent,  co-equal,  co-eval,  and  forever  inseparable.  Let 
them  stand  together  "through  weal  and  through  woe,"  and 
if  such  be  our  fate,  let  them  and  us  all  go  down  together  in  a 
common  ruin.  Without  liberty,  I  would  not  turn  upon  my 
heel  for  independence.  I  scorn  all  independence  which  does 
not  secure  liberty.  I  warn  you  also  against  another  fatal 
delusion,  commonly  dressed  up  in  the  fascinating  language  of, 
"If  we  are  to  have  a  master,  who  would  not  prefer  to  have  a 
Southern  one  to  a  Northern  one."  Use  no  such  language. 
Countenance  none  such.  Evil  communications  are  as  corrupt- 
ing in  politics  as  in  morals. 


"  Vice  Is  a  monster  of  such  hideous  mien, 
That  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen. 

But  seen  too  oft1  familiar  with  her  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pitj,  then  embrace." 


I  would  not  turn  upon  my  heel  to  choose  between  masters. 
I  Was  not  born  to  have  a  master  from  either  the  North  or  South. 
I  shall  never  choose  between  candidates  for  that  office.  Shall 
never  degrade  the  right  of  suffrage  in  such  an  election.  I  have 
no  wish  or  desire  to  live  after  the  degredation  of  my  country, 
aud  have  no  intention  to  survive  its  liberties,  if  life  be  the  ne- 
cessary sacrifice  of  their  maintainence  to  the  utmost  of  my  abil- 
ity, to  the  bitter  end.  As  for  myself,  give  me  liberty  as  secured 
in  the  Constitution  with  all  its  guaranties,  amongst  which  is  the 
sovereignty  of  Georgia,  or  give  me  death.  This  is  my  motto 
while  living,  and  I  want  no  better  epitaph  when  I  am  dead. 

Senators  and  Representatives,  the  honor,  the  rights,  the  dig- 
nity, the  glory  of  Georgia,  is  in  your  hands.  See  to  it  as  faith- 
ful sentinels  upon  the  watchtower,  that  no  harm  or  detriment 
come  to  any  of  those  high  and  sacred  trusts,  while  committed  to 
your  charge.     (Immense  cheers  and  applause.) 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


